Akhilesh Yadav takes oath, Raja Bhaiyya too

LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav was sworn in as the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, along with 47 other ministers. The much-feted 'generational shift' was, however, marred by the inclusion of controversial MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiyya, as cabinet minister.

Akhilesh Yadav had denied entry to don-turned politician DP Yadav into the party during elections, even though it created some bad blood among senior leaders. He was expected to break from tradition and work for removal of the 'goonda raj' tag associated with Samajawadi Party's earlier governance. Induction of Raja Bhaiyya, who has cases of attempt to murder, kidnapping and abduction, has belied the expectation.

Asked about Raja Bhaiyya's induction at the press conference, after the swearing-in ceremony, Yadav claimed cases against him were politically motivated. "You know who had slapped maximum cases against Raja Bhaiyya. If you check the dates of cases lodged against him, you will know who is behind them," he said in an apparent reference to his predecessor Mayawati. Raja Bhaiyya, elected as an Independent with SP support, is a fifth-time MLA, representing Kunda.

The ministry is a mix of old and new faces. The cabinet comprises 6 Yadavs, 5 Thakurs, 3 Brahmins, 3 Muslim and 2 SC ministers. Among 28 ministers of state, Akhilesh Yadav has inducted the debutant MLA from Lucknow North, Abhishek Mishra who was a professor at IIM Ahmadabad but was persuaded by Akhilesh to enter politics. An SP leader said the ministry will be expanded soon and some new faces especially from the youth brigade would be inducted in a few weeks.

At the news conference, Yadav said law and order would be his government's priority and responsibility. "Samajwadi Party will fulfil promises made in the manifesto. Law and order will be our responsibility from today. Action would be taken against officers doing injustice. Attacking the Mayawati government, the Yadav scion said, "organised corruption that happened in the previous regime was unprecedented."

He said that the large crowds outside employment exchanges showed the level of joblessness in the state and the youth could rest assured that the unemployment dole promised by SP would be delivered. Yadav said that his government would find enough resources to implement the manifesto. If corruption during the last five years could be curtailed and money spent on memorials set aside for productive use, the government would have enough funds to fulfill all promises, he claimed.

On the possibility of a third front at the national level, he said the party had just formed the government in UP and was yet to think about the issue. He said that SP chief and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav would decide on the issue and other matters pertaining to national politics. The practice of Janata Durbar would be restarted in UP. BSP chief Mayawati had stopped the Janat Darbar - the practice of the chief minister meeting people to address their grievances.

Congress which lost a high-stake battle to SP, sent Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and senior leader Moti Lal Vora as representatives. BSP was represented by former ministers Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya.